Over the past 15 years, as a founder, adviser, and coach, the advice I find myself sharing the most to other founders is; invest early in improving your co-founder communication.
Why?
The average startup takes over 7 years to reach an exit. Most companies take longer than this.
Over the course of 7 - 10 years, it’s not a question of if you will face wrenching dynamics between you and your co-founder(s), but when and even more importantly, what will the result be?
Research shows that conflict when handled well leads to greater partnership resilience and trust, which will improve your business outcomes.
On the other hand, Noam Wasserman found that over 65% of high-growth startups fail due to co-founder or team issues.
In short, the outcomes of co-founder conflict are wildly different for you, your partnership (and friendship), your team, and your investors.
And, I’ve learned all of these lessons, not just with my clients, but with my own co-founder who is now, a close friend of 25+ years.
Early in building our company together, our long history played in our favor, allowing us to move fast and support each others’ weaknesses, which we knew by heart. After 6 years of startup life, our friendship played against us when new and harder conversations needed to be had, but we avoided them out of fear of hurting the other.
The good news is that like any skill--learning to lean into difficult moments and grow your co-founder relationship can be learned--I suggest via learning, practice, and the skilled support of an outside observer.
With a deep passion for the work of entrepreneurs, I am launching a new offering for co-founders, which is a 10-Week Program to Improve your Communication no matter where your relationship stands.
You can learn more about the program here or express interest in working with me here.
A few more details about how this works:
To improve your co-founder relationship you don’t need to be a communication savant, the process simply takes time and practice.
The process I use (with customization for every co-founder team) involves three parts:
-Training. On interpersonal dynamics and difficult conversations (including both reading and instruction)
-Consistent practice. Including relevant exercises and live practice.
-Expert Support. In the form of me listening in on conversations and offering nuanced feedback to each person.
Or, as I like to say, I partner with founders and operate as a mountain guide.
Helping you assess where you are now, teaching new, relevant skills, then encouraging you and your co-founder to take incremental risks and build a relationship with greater depth and range.
What folks I work with are saying:
I’m sharing the below because I care a lot about this work. I truly believe that co-founders in healthy relationships build companies that change the world. Here are what some of my clients say about working with me:
“As a serial entrepreneur, I have worked with a range of executive coaches. Nathan stands out for his ability to build deep trust with our various team members. As a Co-CEO the ability to navigate difficult conversations is critical. Nathan helped us develop as a team and as Co-CEO's - giving and receiving feedback is an art, and takes practice.
The outcome of our work together has shown up professionally and also personally. Both of which have been critical in the roller coaster of entrepreneurial endeavors.”
-Alex Iwanchuk, CEO, Feals
As our consulting business was scaling and our team growing, we noticed that despite us all being on good terms, we didn't have the tools to work through the harder interpersonal issues that were starting to arise.
Nathan helped our team learn how to give each other tough feedback, understand one another's working style, and bake healthy conflict into our company culture. This has led to greater team trust, company alignment, and results."
-Ben Haley, Evolved Energy Research, Partner
Feel free to schedule time to talk with me about this program here—I’d love to learn more about the company you are building and your co-founder setup.